Paul Keating and leadership: Was the ‘personal’ political?

This article proposes three possible reasons why political leaders abide by policy decisions in the face of vigorous opposition – because they perceive the policy to be 'right', because abiding by a decision is necessary to appear 'strong', or because of personal motives arising from the leader themselves. The article applies this framework to Paul Keating's apparent refusal, as Treasurer in 1989, to consider mortgage relief in the midst of prohibitively high interest rates arising from monetary policy at that time. The article concludes that it is the 'personal' dimension that most explains Keating's decision-making on this issue. This is a significant finding given that such personal motives are incapable of legitimation in liberal democratic terms, yet policy decisions arising from them can have an immense impact. 政治领导人在强大的反对力量面前坚持其政策决定。本人分析了三种可能的原因：认定其政策正确；欲显示强大需坚持政策；领导者个人方面的动机。本文根据这个思路分析了保罗齐丁。保罗1989年任澳大利亚财长时面对当时货币政策造成的利率奇高的局面而拒绝考虑抵押减免。笔者认为，个人因素可以解释保罗的决策。这个发见很重要，因为个人动机在自由民主那里虽无合法性，但由此做出的决定却能产生广大的影响。 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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